Consumer grants available for ultra-low-carbon vehicles

Motorists wanting to switch to electric and ultra-low-carbon cars in 2011 now have a choice of nine vehicles eligible for money-off grants.

The government today confirmed the vehicles – including the Mitsubishi iMiEV, the Smart fortwo electric drive and the Peugeot iON – that are eligible for Plug-In Car Grants from January 2011 until 31 March 2012.

The grant has been designed to reduce the up-front cost of eligible vehicles by 25 per cent, capped at £5,000.

Transport secretary Philip Hammond and business minister Mark Prisk also announced five more regions that will be installing local charging points, having successfully bid for a share of a £20m fund.

The successful bidding consortia in this second phase are based in the Midlands, Greater Manchester, East of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In the Midlands, Cenex is leading a consortium in a programme to install more than 500 charging posts in locations that include shopping centres and railway stations.

The government has provided £2.9m of funding to support the £6.3m project.

The first phase of the project, from 2011 to 2013, will see charge posts installed in towns and cities including Coventry, Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton.

Prisk said: ‘Today’s news that motorists will be able to choose from at least nine cars under the consumer incentive scheme and that we are expanding the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles will further reinforce the message that the UK is Europe’s leading producer of ultra-low-carbon vehicles.’

As electric cars hit the UK’s roads in greater numbers, the development of infrastructure is a key consideration. Click here to read more.